Display-machine.



O. W. SPONSEL.

DISPLAY MACHINE.

APPLIOATION FILED 00127, 1913.

1,100,925. Patented June 23, 1914.

4 SHEETS-BHEET 1.

uuLUMBlA PLANOGRAPH c0.. WASHINGTON, n. c.

Patented June 23, 1914 4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

M7 5368 I j? 4 I 'jzidahfir: M g m M AW A I iv zw a w COLUMBIA PLANDURAPH c0.. WASHINGTON, n. c.

G. W. SPONSEL.

DISPLAY MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED 00127, 1913.

Patented June 23, 1914.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH c0, WASHINGTON, n. c,

O. W. SPONSEL.

DISPLAY MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED 0OT.27, 1913.

1, 1 00,925. Patented June 23, 1-914.

4 SHEETS-#8111131 4.

4 WQSSQS 757233777624,

cow-Bu PLANOGRAPH co. WASHINGTON. n. c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES W. SPONSEL, OF HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR, BY DIRECT AND MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO THE ALLEN-SPONSEL COMPANY, OF HARTFORD, CON NEC'IICUT, A CORPORATION OF CONNECTICUT.

DISPLAY-MACHINE.

To all whom it may concern Beit known that 1, CHARLES \V. SroNsEL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Hartford, in the county of Hartford and State of Connecticut, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Display-Machines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to those machines designed to display advertising matter, or pictures, or articles of merchandise, in which the matter to be displayed is placed on carriers that, by power, are moved at stated intervals so as to change the display and thus in continuous succession expose all the different subjects desired to be shown.

The object of the invention is to provide a simple and attractive displaying machine of this character with a large number of carriers whereby a great variety of subjects may be displayed, which carriers are so arranged that any matter can be easily and quickly removed and other matter substituted when it is desired to change the display, the construction bein such that the carriers will at stated intervals move in their paths positively and uniformly with the expenditure of but a small amount of power. In attaining this object the matter to be displayed, whether it is advertisement, picture, r merchandise, is arranged on carriers which are suspended from bars that have their ends fitting tracks in a suitably incased frame and by a continuously running motor are intermittently moved toward the front, then one by one lowered, then pushed to the back, then one by one lifted and finally again moved to the front, the movements being continued intermittently and synchronously so that the different subjects on the carriers are attractively shown for a desired interval in succession through openings in the inclosing case.

The invention is illustrated as embodied in a machine which has carriers that are designed to hold advertising cards, consequently the description will be limited to carriers provided for this purpose although, of course, it is readily understood that the carriers can be utilized forholding and displaying other matter, such as pictures, or articles of merchandise.

The inclosing case, which can be of any suitable design, forming no essential part of Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed October 27, 1913.

Patented June 23, 1914:.

Serial No. 797,543.

portion of the top of one of the carriers.

Fig. 6 .shows a transverse vertical section, on larger scale, of the upper part of the machine looking toward the right on the plane indicated by the dotted line 6-6 on Fig. 3. Fig. 7 is a sectional view of a portion of the machine showing the mechanism at the top on one side which feeds the carrier bars toward the front. Fig. 8 is a sectional view of the upper end of one of the front elevator racks showing the block which supports one end of the carrier bars and the latch which insures the lowering of the bars when the elevator descends. Fig. 9 is a sectional View which shows the latch on one side at the back that temporarily retains the bars from backward movement. Fig. 10 is a sectional view showing the guide at one end by means of which the bars when lowered are directed backward onto the transverse track behind the slide that feeds them rearwardly. Fig. 11' shows a perspective view, on larger scale, of one of the carriers with a' plate designed to hold an advertising card. Fig. 12 shows a transverse section through the bar and card plate on the plane indicated by the line 12-12 on Fig. 11.

The machine illustrated has a metallic supporting frame consisting of front endposts 1, rear end-posts 2, with upper cross bars 3 near the top and lower cross bars 4 near the middle that extend from the front posts to the rear posts. This frame may be a single casting or made up of separate pieces fastened together in any suitable way. In the inside of the front and rear end posts are vertical guide-ways 5 and in the inside of the transverse cross bars are horizontal guide-ways 6. The ends of the bars 7 to which the carrier plates 8 are fastened, are

provided with blocks 9, which blocks together with the ends of the bars are of such thickness that they fit and travel smoothly in the guide-ways in the insides of the frame.

The carrier plates shown are made of sheet metal and they desirably have their upper edges folded over onto the bars and their bottom and side edges folded over so as to hold the cards 10, upon which may be printed or otherwise applied the matter that is to be displayed. Lips 11 may be struck from the plates near the top for the purpose of retaining the upper edges of the cards. Any desired number of these carriers, consisting of the bars and holding plates may be placed in the machine with the ends of the bars extending into the guide-ways in the frame. It is desirable, however, to place such a number in the machine that the ends of the bars and blocks will just fill the horizontal guide-ways at the top and near the middle of the frame so that the bars and blocks will provide means for feeding each other uniformly from back to front at the top and from front to back at the middle, when the machine is in operation.

On the top of the frame is placed a small electric motor 12, the armature shaft of which is provided with a worm 13. This worm engages with a worm wheel 14 on a shaft which has a worm 15 that meshes with a worm wheel 16. On the end of the shaft 17 which carries the worm wheel 16, at one side of the machine, is a crank disk 18. A rod 19 connects this crank disk with the end of an arm 20 which extends from an oscillatory toothed segment 21. This segment engages a pinion 22 on a shaft 23 that extends from side to side of the frame and near each end carries a gear 24. These gears mesh with racks 25 that are movable vertically in guide-ways in the outside faces of the side posts of the frame. By means of this mechanism the racks on each side at the front and the racks on each side at the back are intermittently moved up and down when the racks at the front are moving up, those at the back are moving down, and: when the front racks are going down, the back racks are going up. Fastened to the inside of the racks and extending through the frame into the vertical guide ways for the carrier bars are blocks 26.

On the shaft 23 at one end of the machine is an eccentric 27. An eccentric rod 28 connects this eccentric with a rocker arm 29 on a shaft 30. At each end of the machine this shaft bears a lever 31 that is connected with a slide 32 that has a finger 33 which is movable horizontally from the front toward the hack opposite the forward end of the transverse guide-way 6' at the middle of the frame. The connection between the lever 31 and the slide 32 is desirably made by means of the plunger 34 and spring 35 within the case 36 that is jointed to the slide. At one end of the machine the shaft 30 has a rocker arm 37 which by a link 38 is connected with an arm 39 on the shaft 40. Near each end of the machine this shaft 40 bears a lever 41 which is connected by a link 42 with a slide 43 that has a finger 44 which is designed to move from the back toward the front opposite the rear end of the transverse guide-way 6 at the top of the frame.

When the front rack bars move down the blocks attached to them lower the front carrier bar from the top to the middle of the frame. At the same time the rear rack bars move up and the blocks attached to them lift the back carrier bar from the middle to the top of the frame. As the back racks near their lowest position and the front racks near their highest position, the lower slides 32 push all of the bars in the horizontal track at the middle toward the rear, and the upper slides 43 push all of the bars on the track at the top toward the front. When the front bar reaches the bottom it is directed by inclines 45 at the lower ends of the vertical guide-ways onto the slides 32 back of the fingers 33 which at that time are way forward. The lower row of bars are temporarily held from back ward movement by the latches 46, which normally project behind the ends of the back bar of the lower row. As the back racks come down the elevating blocks which they carry engage the latches 46 and push them down so as to release the bars, and then the spring connections between the levers 31 and the slides 32 which are at this time under tension, draw the bottom slides backward and push the lower rows of bars to the rear so that the bar at the back will be over the elevating blocks of the rear racks. The latches 46 are normally held by springs 47 so as to obstruct the rearward movement of the lower row of bars until the proper time, and they desirably have arms 48 which project into the paths of the blocks to insure the latches being brought up to retaining position in case the springs fail to accomplish their function when the rear bar is lifted.

When the front racks start down with the front bar, latches 49 are turned by the springs 50 into the front tracks so as to hold the then upper front bar from dropping until the front racks are again raised and their carrying blocks are beneath that bar. The latches 49 have arms 51 which project into the path of downward movement of the rack blocks so as to make sure that the latches will be pulled by the springs 50 'beneath the front top bar. On the 'upward movement the rack blocks push the latches backand hold them out of the waythey again descend. The upper row of bars at the proper time are pushed forward by", the finger 44: on the slide 43 as previously described. WVhen the rear racks rise with the rear carrier bar, the blocks which carry the bar, engage and push back the fingers 52, and when the bar has reached its uppermost position and the racks have descended, these fingers by means of the springs 53 are thrown beneath the bar and hold it until the slide pushes it forward into the upper horizontal tracks. near their upper ends carry spring latches 54 that snap over the ends of the front bar as it drops onto the elevator blocks to insure that the bar is carried down on the blocks when they descend. Near the lower end of the front vertical tracks and extending across the frame is a deflector plate 55 which guides the free end of the carrier when it is being brought down so it will not catch on the front bar below. Extending across the frame at the rear is a gate 56 which holds the free end of the rear carrier forward so it will not get into the way of the carrier that is being taken up.

The mechanisms are so timed that while the front racks are lowering the front carrier bar, the rear racks are lifting the rear carrier bar, and while the front racks are going up and the rear racks are coming down the upper row of bars are pushed forward by the upper slides and the lower row of bars are pushed rearward by the lower slides. The carrier bars fill the horizontal tracks and perform part of the function of the horizontal feed, thus they to an extent feed themselves transversely and consequently eliminate the employment of endless conveyers. With this construction a large number of carriers with advertising cards or pictures or articles of merchandise may be successively displayed for a definite space of time by means of a continuously running mechanism. The movements are uniform, steady and positive without the employment of chains and ratchet and pawl mechanisms. The time interval of the dwell of the carriers may be changed by varying the speed of the motor and also by changing the number of bars or the thickness of the blocks between the bars. For instance, the time of dwell may be doubled by removing one of the carrier bars, or the movement of the carriers may be stopped by simply removing two of the bars. The advertising or other matter to be displayed can be quickly changed when desired by simply removing it from the carriers and substituting other matter.

The invention claimed is:

1. A display machine having a frame with vertical guide-ways inside of the frame at the ends near the front and near the rear, and horizontal guide-ways inside of the frame at The front elevator racks the ends near the top and near the middle, racks having parts extending through the walls of the frame and movable up and down in the vertical guide-ways at the front, and up and down in the vertical guide-ways at the rear, slides with fingers movable horizo-ntally at the rear ends of the horizontal guideways at the top, slides with fingers movable horizontally at the front ends of the horizontal guide-ways at the middle, carrier bars with their ends projecting into the guideways, said bars being adapted to be lowered and raised in succession by said vertically movable rack parts and through each other moved backward at one level and forward at another level by said horizontally movable slide fingers, oscillatory gearing for re ciprocating oppositely said vertically movable racks and for reciprocating oppositely said horizontally movable slides, and continuously rotating means for oscillating said gearing.

2. A display machine having a frame with vertical guide-ways at the ends near the front and near the rear, horizontal guideways at the ends near the top and near the middle of the frame, blocks movable up and down in the vertical guide-ways at the front, blocks movable up and down in the vertical guide-ways at the rear, reciprocating racks to which said blocks are attached, slides movable horizontally at the rear ends of the horizontal guide-ways near the top, slides movable horizontally at the front ends of the horizontal guide-ways near the middle, gearing for reciprocating oppositely said racks and for reciprocating oppositely said slides, continuously rotating mechanism for oscillating said gearing, and carrier bars with their ends projecting into the guideways, said bars being adapted to be lowered by said blocks movable vertically in the front vertical guide-ways, and be raised by said vertically movable blocks in the rear vertical guide-ways and through each other adapted to be moved backward by the slides at the front ends of the middle horizontal guide-ways, and moved forward by the slides at the rear ends of the top horizontal guideways.

3. A display machine having a frame with vertical guide-ways at the ends near the front and near the rear, horizontal guideways at the ends near the top and near the 'middle of the frame, blocks movable up and down in the vertical guide-ways at the front, blocks movable up and down in the vertical guide-ways at the rear, reciprocating racks to which said blocks are attached, slides movable horizontally at the rear ends of the horizontal guide-ways near the top, slides movable horizontally at the front ends of the horizontal guide-ways near the middle, gearing for reciprocating oppositely said racks and for reciprocating oppositely said slides, continuously rotating mechanism for oscillating said gearing, and carrier bars with their ends projecting into the guideways, said bars being adapted to be lowered by said blocks movable vertically in the front vertical guide-ways, and be raised by said vertically movable blocks in the rear vertical guide-ways and through each other adapted to be moved backward by the slides at the front ends of the middle horizontal guide-ways, and moved forward by the slides at the rear ends of the top horizontal guide ways, and plates adapted to receive the matter to be displayed depending from said bars.

l. A display machine having a frame with vertical guide-ways at the ends near the front, vertical guide-Ways at the ends near the rear, horizontal guide-Ways at the ends near the top, horizontal guideqvays at the ends near the middle, arms projecting into and movable up and down the vertical guideways at the front and back, racks to which said arms are attached movable oppositely at the front and back near each end, a gear at each end engaging said racks, a shaft supporting said gears, means for oscillating said shaft, slides movable horizontally at-the rear ends of the horizontal guide-ways near the top, slides movable horizontally at the front ends of the horizontal guide-ways near the middle, an eccentric on the oscillatory gear shaft, and levers and links connecting said eccentric with the horizontally movable slides.

5. A display machine having a frame with continuous guide-ways facing each other at opposite sides of the machine, carrier bars with their opposite ends movably located in said guide-ways, racks movable up and down in said guide-ways for one by one successively lowering the bars at the front and at the same time raising the bars at the back, oscillatory gears for reciprocating said racks, slides cooperating with said bars for moving the raised bars forward and the lowered bars backward, levers and links for reciprocating said slides, an oscillatory eccentric for actuating said levers and links, continuously 0perated driving mechanism for oscillating said gears and eccentric, latches for holding the front one of the upper bars raised until poritions of the front racks are lifted beneath the front bar, and latches for holding the back one of the lower bars until a part of the back racks is lowered beneath the back bar.

6. A display machine having a frame with endless guide-ways facing each other at opposite sides of the frame, carrier bars with their opposite ends movably located in said Copies of this patent mav be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents.

Washington, .D. C." 

